Never Too Late
by lostinthewords
Summary: "Is there a Henry McCord here?"


Jason was too busy playing video games to answer the knock at the door. Knowing his dad was home he let it go. There it was again, he huffed at the distraction messing up his concentration. He looked around for Henry but didn't see him. He must have gone upstairs.

"Hey, can I help you?"

A girl older than Stevie stood there, shifting her weight back and forth while fiddling with her hands. "Yes, is there a Henry McCord here?"

Jason looked at her skeptically, "are you one of his students or something?" he asked even though she looked older than Stevie. Times like this he wished security was here 24/7 to background check, especially after their stalker. Who knew if the lady would tell him the truth, or whatever lie she thought would get her in the door. As skeptical as he was about the government, the DS agents weren't on his conspiracy list. Not after everything they've done for his family, for his mom.

Her hesitation made Jason uneasy. "I'm his daughter."

Jason stared at him dumbstruck. He was not expecting that. "Umm…"

"Hey, bud who's at the door." Henry said as he approached them.

Jason held the door open with his hips and rolled his eyes at this wacko. "Some girl who claims to be your daughter."

Henry's heart stopped. It couldn't be; could it?

"Dad…Earth to dad." Jason waved his hand in front of Henry's face.

"Go upstairs, Jason." He said, his eyes never leaving the woman in the doorway.

"But I was playing-" This was so unfair, he was just about to beat the hardest level. He'd been stuck on it for a month and if he didn't beat it today he'd owe his friends $25.

Henry didn't budge, his eyes never shifted from the woman. "Go upstairs. I'll be up in a minute."

Rolling his eyes, he sulked off to his room.

Suddenly remembering his manners he invited her in. He led her to the kitchen where he busied himself with making a fresh batch of coffee. His wife and eldest daughter had taken it all when they left this morning. He sighed, Elizabeth was supposed to have today off, it was Saturday after all but there was some treaty with some country he couldn't remember right now that was in danger of not being signed. So, off she went to the office at 7 am to prevent another war. He felt guilty for being relieved about the conflict but he needed time to process this before letting someone else in.

"I'll be back in one minute." He told her, needing to talk to Jason before he told anyone in their family about this morning. He found Jason's door slightly ajar, giving it a quick tap before poking his head in. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure," he closed his computer and faced his dad.

"Jace, I'd really appreciate it if you didn't tell your sisters about this yet." Jason made no secret of disapproval of keeping this secret. "I just need to talk to your mom first. Then I'll explain everything to everyone after okay?"

Jason conceded, "Okay."

"Thanks bud."

"Dad?" Henry stopped and turned around. "Is she really…you know who she says is?"

"I don't know. Possibly."

He typed out a quick message to his wife asking if she had time for lunch today before heading back downstairs.

Henry poured their cups, the silence was deafening. He carried a tray with two cups and all the typical fixings. "I didn't know how you take it so here's some sugar, milk, creamer, we should have some equal if you want."

"Sugar is fine. So that was your son?"

Henry smiled like he did whenever he talked about his family. "Yeah, Jason, he's 15, then there's Alison who's 17 and Stevie's who's 22."

Awkwardness fell over them again. He couldn't believe she found him. He considered finding her when Elizabeth became Secretary of State but the terms were clear. He never forgot about her, all this time, he thought about her every day.

"How did you find me?" He finally asked.

"You can find anyone on the internet these days and I don't know if you know this but a law was recently passed to unseal original birth certificates."

"I didn't. Why now?" All the possibilities scared him. Was she sick? Did she need the family medical history? Was someone digging into his past to exploit his family?

"Curiosity got the best of me. My parents never hid my adoption from me but I never had the courage until now."

They sat in silence for a while, both having a million questions but not knowing where to start.

Ella finally broke the silence, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to just show up like this and disrupt your life."

"I'm glad you found me. Not a day goes by that I don't think about you." He checked the time, "I have a lecture I have to get to, but I would like to get to know you. That is if you want to."

She smiled, "I'd like that."

* * *

Elizabeth got up to greet her husband as he walked into the office. "This is a nice surprise," she said as he kissed her cheek. Immediately, she knew something was off. He was trying to act like everything was normal but he was too tense. "What's wrong?"

He held up the bag of food, "Let's eat."

Uh oh, it must be something serious, not only did he bring her Chinese food but from her favorite restaurant, all the way across town.

"Are the kids okay?"

"They're fine. I just need to talk to you about something and thought it would be best in person."

"Okay, hold on." She stood up from the couch, stuck her head out the door and told Blake that under no circumstances were they to be interrupted.

"I don't really know how to tell you this. I still can't believe it myself." He started when she sat back down.

She interlaced her fingers with his, "Whatever it is you can tell me. We're a team remember?"

"Remember the daughter I told you about, the one-"

She squeezed his hand, "I remember."

"She found me." He dropped his fork, finally looking into her eyes. He expected her to put on a brave face, support him through this no matter what but that doesn't mean she wouldn't have her reservations.

"She found you…" She said slowly, trying to process what he just said.

"At the house. She showed up at the house." Saying the words out loud made them a reality. Overwhelmed with emotion, he blinked back the tears.

"Wow," Elizabeth was stunned. She never expected this day to come, in all honesty she forgot she existed. Henry never talked about her except that one time he told her a year into their relationship. It was too difficult for him, she knew he never fully forgave himself but that he did the best he could under the circumstances. She reminded of the strength in his choice that night, he was still the man she knew and loved.

"My thoughts exactly."

"Did you talk to her?" She needed the facts, her emotions were all over the place, they were messy, just like this situation. But facts were tangible, something for her to cling onto before processing how she felt.

"Yeah, she came in and we had coffee." The corners of his lips turned up, this hole in his heart had filled up when he saw her. Elizabeth and the kids were his whole being but there was always this one piece missing. He couldn't do anything about it, so he just walked around and ignored it. He attempted to fill it with other things but nothing was right until Ella showed up.

"Okay." She said not quite sure what to do with this information. "Did the kids see…?"

"Ella."

She nodded, "Did the kids meet Ella?"

"Jason answered the door but the girls weren't home. I asked him to keep this to himself until I talked to you."

They were both at a lost. He survived wars and she went up against the world's toughest leaders but one woman comes in and throws everything off balance.

Swallowing the lump in her throat and pushing down every question that came bubbling up she kissed him and rested her head against his shoulder. "However, you want to handle this I'll back you up."

"I love you." He kissed the top of her head, some of his anxiety eased. Even though Elizabeth knew about Ella, he questioned how she would react to this. She'd never wavered in her support for him in the past and they've had their issues but he needed to hear her say the words. He needed the reminder that she's with him no matter what.

"I love you too."

_A/N: Cleaning out my WIP and found this one. This one was requested years ago by a reviewer from another one of my stories. It won't be very long as I have no time and still need to finish Moon Child._


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